VICTORIA — A report by British Columbia's information and privacy commissioner says the province's three major political parties must each do a better job telling people about the information they are collecting about them.
Michael McEvoy says he's giving B.C.'s New Democrat, Liberal and Green parties six months to become more transparent with people before deciding if a more detailed audit of party systems, databases or practices is required.
He says the province's Personal Information Protection Act requires political parties to obtain consent from individuals to collect, use, or disclose information about them.
McEvoy says the report concludes all three political parties have inadequate privacy training and must ensure the same effort goes into protecting personal information as is put into its collection.
The report makes 17 recommendations for all B.C. political parties, including ensuring the parties tell people the purposes for gathering their information at the point of collection.
Green spokesman Stefan Jonsson said his party is reviewing the report, but has already been making improvements to the security, privacy and integrity of the personal information it gathers.
